It has been some time since I have written anything and am in the process of getting back into the swing
after the holidays and being super busy with work. Also, I have in the plans to change my blog from Bluegrass Runner To Bluegrass Endurance and not sure yet how to do it. Blogger says it can take an existing site and copy it over but for some reason right now it does not want to. Not sure if I can just change the name and change the web address to point to the existing site – we shall see.
The reason for the change is simply that since I have been riding more and running by focus has shifted to be more than on just running and since even though I may not do Triathlons I would like to report on the them and other endurance events I may come across. Thus the change and now to just get it done so as not to lose some connection with my old blog.
As far as the second part of the title of this blog I figured I would put off posting on my training for now as a weekly post but may go back to it at some time. Instead, I will be doing a series over the next month or so on “What I Use/Do” with regards to a number of areas such as: Nutrition, Riding Equipment, Running Shoes and Clothing, Training Software and any other things I may think of.
I realize that I am me and as we are individuals so simply because I use, or do, something is not necessarily a reason for someone else to do the same but it may give you directions to look if you are so inclined. I will add here, and repeat it when it is applicable, that at present I am an Ambassador for a couple products: SFuels and AMPHuman (Well I was last year and this year is not sorted out yet – but I will still use the product regardless) and wanted to be up front about that. With regards to SFuels I have been with them for a number of years as the product fits very well with my LCHF approach as it also allows for racing on more carbs as needed.
Hoping to get the first new post up in the next week – till then keep up the training and stay healthy.
World Athletics has amended it's shoe rules - allowing for development shoes to be worn in sanctioned competitions as long s they meet the previous requirements
******As a note if you are looking for a gift or just a good book if you use one of the links in the side bar to Amazon I get a small payment that actually just allows me to get more books to suggest.********
Local, to Kentucky, Races and Events
(If you have a race in the area, including surrounding states, let me know and I will post about it)
Running groups are a great way to get to know people but also a great way to help you progress and get out and run. If you are in the Elizabethtown KY area check out the Running Soles Group and if you are closer to Campbellsville check out the Campbellsville Running Club. Have another local running group in KY let me know and I will list it.
While I often tell people to be careful about milage goals as they can lead you astray and down a path to over training if you are not careful – I have a confession to make. When I started this year I had a goal of 1500-1700 miles of running, I did 1501 in 2019, and 4000 miles riding, I did 3500 in 2019. However, as my foot was not getting better I changed course early on – even taking an extended break from running and started riding more. Once I started riding more I realized how much I liked it and also noticed that my foot was getting better and my running was not suffering. Thus I change my milage goals to 1100 miles running and 10,000 miles riding with also having as another goal of doing 24 centuries for the year.
Now comes my confession, with a month left in the year I have reached my riding milage goal and am only a few miles from my running goals. Thus with the year coming to a close and knowing that due to travel I will be taking a few weeks off from riding I am going to work to get 11,000 miles riding and also go over 1100 miles running by as much as I can. Again, I do not suggest going for milage goals unless you are ready for them and also see them as time goals as well. While I tend to ride for miles I also understand the time aspect so from my perspective they work together.
Due to this I am going to work to keep my riding up at 300+ a week for the next 2+ weeks and keep my running at 30+. While I want the extra miles to see what I can do I also will be careful not to overdo it running as do not want to go backwards and hurt my foot.
For next year I am going to keep my riding very close to this year and aim for about 12,000+ miles but try and get my running to about 1300 miles and see how that goes. Key to this, as I did this year is to be ready, and willing, to make on the fly adjustments. Also, is working more to integrate intervals and HIIT work in both running and riding - but above all stay healthy
Overview of Last Two Weeks Runs and Rides: Week of Nov 23 – 29 As this is basically a time for more base building in both running and riding I am just running and trying to keep my HR at MAF or close to it. For this week I ran a couple 8.2 miles at a relaxed pace with Monday’s run being a little quicker but still under control. Then on Thursday I ran 10+ miles of trails with some friends and not only was it nice to run with other people and on trials when I was done my foot while letting me know I ran trails was the best it has been after a trail run in some time. Also, on Thursday I ran a second run after a short ride in the afternoon – making for a good day of working out.
For biking this week I did my usual Monday DIRT ride, avg of 2.5 w/kg or so, after a warmup for a total of 66 miles. Then on Tuesday evening I warmed up and rode a WRTL race on Zwift. While I got dropped as usual, man those starts are hard, this week I was able to hang on for about 7 miles, that is a win for me, and in the process also getting my best 20 minute W/Kg at 3.7. I was able then to keep going and catch a group and hung with them till the end and over 29.2 miles was at 3.5 w/kg so a good overall ride. As mentioned above I rode a short ride in the afternoon after the trail run on Thursday. Then on Saturday I rode a relaxed 108 miles on Zwift with the BMTR group for Century #23 for 2020 – so one more to go for the year to meet my goal.
A good week over all with 319 miles riding and 30 miles running.
Week of Nov 30 – Dec 6 This week was to be an easier week milage wise, and it was. So only rode the first three days of the week with Monday again being my usual 65+ miles at a relaxed pace. Then on Tuesday I ended up being needed for the TTT on WRTL so after riding 65 miles in the AM, did not know I was going to race, I did a couple warm-ups before the race which was later the afternoon (7:45PM ET). The TTT was to be a relatively flat course of 17.4 miles. The last time I did the TTT I had issues at the start and never got on the group so did an ITT but this time while having a little glitch was able to latch on and while having an issue on the first small climb I got back on and for once stayed with the group the entire way. I think if all the guys rode as good as they have in the past I may have had a harder time staying on but in the end finished as the 4th rider which for me is pretty good. I did make sure that my pulls were no longer than 30-45 seconds as about all I could do not to let the pace drop too much and still hang on. While I did not get my best 20m w/kg my overall time of 38:45 got me a final of 3.6w/kg & 285 watts for the ride which is my best for a ride over 5 miles. Also ended up getting 103+ miles for the day so all-in-all a very good day. I finished up the week with the usual Wednesday BMTR Mid-Week ride after a good warmup and thus ended the week with 251 miles. While the miles were a little less than the previous 3 weeks the effort was a little more than planned. Did not do my usual long Saturday ride so just rested – as did not run Saturday either.
As far as running I also cut my miles and also only ran three days but, for me, did longer runs to get a total of 25 miles. Mondays run was a good tempo run of 7 miles in the cold and wet but felt good and while did not have my HRM on it felt at a relaxed pace and not too hard. The rest of the runs for the week were relaxed paced runs of 9+ miles each so that I ended up being done by Friday and then took Saturday and Sunday off from running and riding for a nice rest. Also, as I usually run and ride on the same days due to schedule this week I only did that on Monday so that also added some rest for the day. Overall while an easier milage week still got some good work in.
Weekly Totals Nov 23 – Nov 29 - Running Miles – 30.4 Miles - Running Time – 4:23:29 Hours - Riding Miles – 319.3 Miles - Riding Time – 13:07:02 Hours - Total Miles – 349.7 Miles - Total Time – 17:30:31 Hours
Weekly Totals Nov 30 – Dec 6 - Running Miles – 25.3 Miles - Running Time – 3:31:13 Hours - Riding Miles – 251.1 Miles - Riding Time – 10:14:28 Hours - Total Miles – 276.4 Miles - Total Time – 13:44:41 Hours
November Totals: - Running Miles: 128.6 Miles - Running Time: 18:38:12 Hours - Riding Miles: 1179.7 Miles - Riding Time: 49:20:25 Hours - Total Miles: 1308.3 Miles - Total Time: 67:58:37 Hours
Diet Notes: As per usual mid-week rides in the AM are done fasted with only a cup of coffee with some heavy cream and a scoop of SFuels Life before the ride. Most runs as they are in the afternoon are done about 3-4 hours after lunch. For the WZRTL races which are in the evening I usually end up eating about 2 hours before and then after my warm-up may take a gel just for some added carbs as the races are for sure above my cross-over point. During the WRTL races I usually have one bottle of SFuels Race+ to sip on to also get some extra carbs.
One thing I do take after every ride or run of 2 hours or more is the new SFuels Revival Post Workout Drink. It is a great recovery drink and unlike many it taste great without added sugars. Does seem to help with recovery so it is the first thing I drink after a long workout. As I have shared before I am an ambassador for SFuels but have been with them for a number of years and really like the products as have fueled me on many a long workout and now with the Revival formula for recovery they can help with that as well. All I can say is if you are a LCHF athlete and looking for a good source of ride/race fueling give them a try. Check out the products here or click on the links below and at the end of this post and Receive 5% off with code TONYK5
Here is my fueling for the Century I did November 28th on Zwift and is pretty much my usual pre-ride and during-ride fueling.
- Also use Amp Human Pr Lotion before ride, actually use before all rides and before long runs
During Ride: - 2ea 24 oz bottle water with 3 scoops SFuels Train - 1ea Banana - 1ea 20 oz bottle of water - Total on Ride: 255 Cals/ 30 Gr Carbs - Total with Pre-ride – 1045 Cals / 30.8 Gr Carbs
The Week Ahead: The week ahead will be pretty much the same with the plan to do my 24th Century of the year on this coming Saturday and get about 300 miles this week and next. As far as running I will just be running easy and get in around 30 miles a week. With travel coming up in a little over three weeks and no riding I will be doing more running but not too much more so will be in truth getting some rest before I get back in Mid January and get back at it.
Kilian's 24 Hour Record attempt did not go as planned - sad to see some have a told you so attitude with regards to going from the trail to the track. While I am not really for these contrived sponsor driven events - yes same with Kipchoge's sub 2hr marathon - I still want to see people do their best.
Yiannis Kouros speaks on what he called "shoe doping" and I fully see his point - when technology is the pathway to records being broken it will always lead to questions. That said hard to define where you draw the line since those in the 70's had advantages over the 50's and the 90's over the 70's. I ride/race bikes and the issues are even greater there. As I have a pretty low tech bike I often race time trials in what they call the Merckx category to refer to a lack of new Time Trial technology and being more like Eddy Merckx might have used. But even then my low tech bike is higher tech than what Merckx rode. There is no easy answer and we just have to see the effort what it is at its time.
Thanks to UltraRunner Podcast for sharing this - if you are concerned the track you train on is not the best look at what Eliud Kipchoge trains on - I think we can no longer complain
I am not sponsored or an ambassador for XOSkin but do use their socks, shorts and shirts. They are having a sale till Dec 15 so here it is "Stuff your stockings with the best socks and apparel on the market. 100% Made in the U.S.A., using our patented RapiDriCopper technology, and Veteran-owned. Save 25% off every order when you use the code HOLIDAY25. Orders over $95 (after discount, shipping cost doesn’t count) gets a free pair of our XOTOES toe socks (ankle or quarter crew), simply add a note to your order letting us know what size, style, and color you want. Sale runs until 12/15/2020 or while supplies last. Enjoy."
******As a note if you are looking for a gift or just a good book if you use one of the links in the side bar to Amazon I get a small payment that actually just allows me to get more books to suggest.********
Local, to Kentucky, Races and Events
(If you have a race in the area, including surrounding states, let me know and I will post about it)
Running groups are a great way to get to know people but also a great way to help you progress and get out and run. If you are in the Elizabethtown KY area check out the Running Soles Group and if you are closer to Campbellsville check out the Campbellsville Running Club. Have another local running group in KY let me know and I will list it.
It has been some time since I have done an interview and hope to do more in the coming year. To start things up here is one I just did with Logan Campbell who raced in the same 5K I did a couple weeks ago. Due to the way things are they discouraged hanging around after the race so I did not meet up with Logan till later online. Nice to learn more about and you can to as well below.
2020 Daniel Ellis 5k - Logan's first race in over a year.
Tell us a little about yourself not necessarily related to running: age, where born, education, area you live in, etc….. I´m 23 and I was raised in Booneville, Kentucky. I graduated from Owsley County High School in 2015 and then graduated EKU in the fall of 2019, with a Biomedical Sciences degree.
What is your profession? I was a pharmacy technician during the first couple months of the pandemic, but currently I am studying for the MCAT/looking for a master´s program to join.
How did you start running and what prompted you to do so? I had a cross country coach tell me that I was a much better runner than basketball player and my sister was on the team. I joined the grade school running club in 4th grade and ended up continuing when I got to middle school.
How long have you been running? I have been running since I was in 4th grade. I´ve taken some breaks ranging from a month to close to a year after I left the Cumberlands program.
Did you participate in any other sports over the years? I participated in XC, track, golf, baseball, and basketball when I was in high school. I graduated in a class of 58 people, so anybody athletic, had to participate in other sports.
Did you run in grade school, High School or College? If so where? Owsley County grade school and high school, then I went on to run a season at the University of the Cumberlands until I transferred to EKU.
So we get an idea of where you have been with running can you share your PR’s for: 5K, 10K marathon and any other distance you may have run in the past. - 400m- 53.9 - 800m- 2:00.07 - 1600m- 4:29.8 - 3200m- 9:47 - 5k- 16:27 - 8k-26:36 - 10k- 36:39 - Half marathon- 1:26:41 (only ran one and it was by myself in July) What is your most memorable race or races and share a little about at least one of them?
1600m 10th grade - in disbelief that I was in the top 4
I competed in class 1A in high school and my 10th grade year I was running a 1600m against the likes of Jacob Thomson , who is now a professional runner. My PR coming in was 4:42 and I just wanted a medal. I was a kid from a place that no one had heard of and after the second lap I was in the top 8. I started picking runners off and I ended up getting 4th in 4:29.9.
The other race would be coming in 6th at state in XC. KHSAA changed the medals from top 15 to top 10 my junior and senior year, so the year before I got 11th. I had always wanted to medal at state in xc and with 800m to go, I was with the 6th-11th group and I just surged to get as far away from 11th as possible.
Do you have a favorite workout you do? In high school, there was a workout called barn intervals, which had a giant hill in it and would usually be anywhere from 1:00-1:05.
In college, it was a simple 8x1Ks on a grass path.
Right now, I have done Ks, 400m repeats, hills, and tempos. The favorite out of those would probably be just hills.
What does a regular week of training look like? I run 42-53 miles a week. I like to have 2 ¨hard¨ runs a week, a long run 9-13 miles, and the rest are just easy runs. With in person races being hard to find right now, it is more easy runs. How about a favorite route you like to run? In Kentucky, it is just a road that I run everyday in my hometown, but my favorite place to run is McAlpine Creek Park.
What is your favorite distance to run and race? I do not have the speed that I had in high school to say the mile, so it is currently the 5k.
What shoes do you run in and what do you like about them? I have always run in Brooks and I currently have the Anthem and Ricochet. I have flat feet and these shoes just feel so much more comfortable than any Nike or Saucony that I have tried.
How about diet, do you eat any certain way and do things change on race week and race day?
I have a terrible diet, I tried to cut pop out in college and it caused my migraines to get a lot worse. Race week, I try to get some kind of pasta and the day of the race is a banana or granola bar.
Do you have any long-range running plans? I think a sub 16 5k is my main goal because that is something I wanted in high school and college. I might run a couple 10k's to lower my PR in that.
What do you like best about living and running in KY? I think the running community in Kentucky is very welcoming. I understand that the pandemic has made it hard to interact in person, but people that I ran against in high school and college, have remained in contact and we still talk to this day.
Anywhere else you would like to visit to run? Oregon is the main place that I would like to visit.
Do you have any bucket list races? I would like to run in the open race at Foot Locker South Regionals, so I can have another crack at McAlpine Creek park.
What do you struggle with most with regards to running?
8k PR of 26:36 at McAlpine Creek Park
I think the big struggle is over running and identity. I always considered myself a runner named Logan and when I got mono in college and I could not run, it really destroyed my mental health and identity. I felt completely lost without running and it led me to leave the program at UC because I felt like I had let so many people down by getting mono. The overrunning is a struggle because I do not like taking days off from running.
What do you see as a trend in running? The new carbon plate running shoes are getting popular and I have no idea how to feel about those because if they were illegal, people would not be running in them. In the Daniel Ellis 5k, I saw someone wearing a pair and I wondered if they actually do make a difference. I think the shoe business is going to be building shoes that give people an unfair advantage some time in the future.
If you had one, well maybe two or three, things to say those that are running to encourage them what would it be? Take easy days in high school. I went 100% everyday at practice and I wish I would have had that information as a young runner.
Find a group or training buddy to hold you accountable because it will make the process so much easier.
Do you have a website or other social media site you would like to share? - Srava-Logan Campbell - Instagram-@lcampbell55
Any closing comments? Thank you so much for the interview and I hope to see you at some races in the future.
Still not sure what is ahead with racing plans except for a couple gravel races in KY I am fairly sure will take place in May and July and then there is the Steamboat Springs Gravel race (144 Miles) in August but that is still uncertain. One thing I know I need to work on is some strengthening exercises and now that my hamstring is feeling better I can start those exercises. The one place I tend to fall woefully short on is “consistent” strength and mobility work and that needs to be dealt with. Over the next few weeks, I will focus on simply getting in some miles and not overdoing it. and working on a strength and mobility routine. I want to work on an actual plan but as most plans are done working back from a goal date not having that makes such planning difficult. As I will mention again, since the start of any plan is base milage I can for sure focus on that without a written plan. But as part of this base period I want to, again, incorporate strength and mobility work and endeavor to be consistent at it instead of doing it sporadically.
I do know with some gravel racing in the next year I need to work in more actual gravel training so hope to see how I can work some in after the first of the year and when get back from Idaho. In this I also want to work in some longer runs, runs over 15 miles, so I can build up some strength in my feet for a possible marathon or 50 miler in the coming year. Not sure where or when but hope to do one – might even look to Tunnel Hill next year.
Overview of Last Two Weeks Runs and Rides: Week of Nov 9 – 15 This week as the following week was focused on getting in some miles with the main hard ride, this week, to be the Tuesday night Zwift Racing League race. As I was still working to get over my strained hamstring from the 5K the previous Saturday the goal for the week was just to get it better. That said my long rides were pretty good but at a consistent speed and lower cadence as it felt better on my hamstring. The Zwift race was a hard one with some good climbs and the usual blazing start were I got dropped. I went out hard but also conservatively as was tired and did not want to have hamstring issues thus the ride ended up being basically an Individual Time Trial on my own. My average W/Kg was lower than normal for my races which was to be expected. I finished off the week with my 21st Century for 2020 by riding with the ‘C’ Group on the BMTR ride. These are great rides as there are various groups so you can pick the effort you want to stay at to better stay in Zone 2. Rode with main group till about 100K where the group takes a break and I kept on with a smaller group as did not want to stop. Once done with the 100 miles I continued on for an extra 25 to get my longest ride on Strava. Felt quite good after the ride.
This week’s runs were all done at a comfortable pace and, as with riding, done so as not to stress my hamstring. The first runs of the week were slower than normal and did feel some tightness in my opposite hamstring – probably due to compensating - but helped work the issues out. Got in some good miles for the week while still working to get healthy – my hamstring did feel better by the end of the week.
Week of Nov 16 – 22 This week was much like the previous one except I did not race this week. I did do a hard workout on Tuesday morning using the SFuels Stadium where we did 6 sets of 6ea of 30/30's - 30 seconds at 130% FTP and 30 seconds rest with 4 minutes between sets. I also did the Wednesday BMTR Mid-Week ride which is a good paced ride. Was tired to start the Wednesday ride as did 48miles prior to the tempo ride - but worked into it. I ended the week with another long ride for my 22nd Century of 2020 in riding with the ‘C’ group on the BMTR Saturday 100 miler. As with last week rode with the group through 63 miles then instead of stopping rode on with a small group to finish up in 4:08 and then did a few extra miles for a total of 105 at an average of just under 25mph. This was a good ride since while there was not a lot of climbing with 3000ft it is enough that to be at the given pace took some effort but was able to keep HR down in the sub 130 range for most of the ride till the last 10 miles.
As far as running this week was much as last week except on Monday I ran 8 miles at 8:10 pace that felt very comfortable. The rest of the week was kept relaxed and easy. Ended with the pretty much the same milage as last week and feeling good.
Bottom line it was a good two weeks of riding and running where my hamstring is better and still got in a good amount of work in.
Weekly Totals Nov 9 – Nov 15 - Running Miles – 30.5 Miles - Running Time – 4:28:36 Hours - Riding Miles – 303.3 Miles - Riding Time – 12:56:46 Hours - Total Miles – 333.8 Miles - Total Time – 17:25:22 Hours
Weekly Totals Nov 16 – Nov 22 - Running Miles – 31.0 Miles - Running Time – 4:26:48 Hours - Riding Miles – 317.0 Miles - Riding Time – 13:13:01 Hours - Total Miles – 348.0 Miles - Total Time – 17:39:49 Hours
Diet Notes: All rides this week done in the morning were again done fasted with the exception of a cup of coffee with heavy cream and a scoop of SFuels Life (50 Cals / 0 Gr Carbs). During the rides I only had water or some SFuels Train. Fueling for the long rides on both Saturdays was the same except for the ride on the 14th I took a Vespa about 30 minutes before the ride and at halfway. Also, while not not diet related I do use the AmpHuman PR Lotion on most all rides and longer runs as it does work to minimize soreness and aid in recovery.
The rest of both long rides were fueled as follows:
During Ride: - 1 24 oz bottle water with 2 scoops SFuels Train - 1 24 oz bottle water with 1 packet SFuels Race - 1 20 oz bottle of water – - Total on Ride: 200 / 17 - Total with Pre-ride – 1095 Cals / 44.8 Gr Carbs
The Week Ahead: Goal is to pretty much repeat the last week or two of running and riding. As my travel plans changed my get in a little more riding as not going to CA as initially planned. I want to keep the runs relaxed and weekly milage to not much more than the 30/week I have been doing recently. With regards to riding as I will not do a long ride this coming week milage this next week will be lower but plans are to do another century the week after next. I still need to plan out a training schedule but s still do not have much clarity on what is ahead it is not all that easy to do. That said since the start of any phase is base milage I will work on that for now and see where to go from there.
“My philosophy is that you don’t improve when you train, you improve when you recover. So recovery was a huge factor in how training moved forward. I always looked three days back and two days forward in my training cycle.”
Rod Dixon
Gary Cohen interview, where the above quote came from, with Rod Dixon
Local, to Kentucky, Races and Events
(If you have a race in the area, including surrounding states, let me know and I will post about it)
Running groups are a great way to get to know people but also a great way to help you progress and get out and run. If you are in the Elizabethtown KY area check out the Running Soles Group and if you are closer to Campbellsville check out the Campbellsville Running Club. Have another local running group in KY let me know and I will list it.
